Cause Effect Relationships

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Cause-effect relationships: climate change, ozone layer depletion, ultra violet radiation and biodiversity changes
Ultraviolet radiation and ozone layer
In recent years, along with the general deterioration of the environmental situation, climate change, pollution of the atmosphere and the aquatic environment, a problem has arisen associating with the effects on the human health of excessive ultraviolet irradiation. The global process of degradation of the Earth's ozone layer, one of the manifestations of which is the formation of "ozone holes", led to the disruption of the usual mode of natural UV radiation.
The sun is the main source of optical radiation coming to the surface of the Earth from space. In quantitative terms, ultraviolet radiation …show more content…

Solar radiation spectrum
The ultraviolet component of solar radiation is called biologically active, as having the most pronounced effect on the living organism. Taking into account the peculiarities of the biological effect, UV radiation is divided into three spectral ranges (Fig.1): UV-C (radiation wavelength 100-280 nm); UV-B (280-315 nm) and UV-A (315-400 nm).
The most dangerous, with a strong bactericidal effect (leading to the death of microbial cells and viruses), is UV-C radiation. It is completely absorbed in the upper layers of the atmosphere by stratospheric oxygen and the ozone layer and does not reach the surface of the Earth.
UV-B radiation is also absorbed by the ozone layer of the atmosphere and only about 6% reaches the Earth's surface, but it causes the main undesirable effects - burns and skin tumors, diseases of the eyes, depression of the immune system.
Finally, UV-A radiation is slightly attenuated by the atmosphere, but the biological effect produced by it is approximately 1000 times weaker than that of UV-B radiation.
Given the significant impact of UV radiation on the biosphere and human health, it is extremely important to carry out its constant monitoring, as well as to study the factors which determine the arrival of UV radiation to the Earth's …show more content…

The changing of UV irradiance can affect primary production in all ecosystems, terrestrial and aquatic, natural, managed, or exploited with a potential cascade of effects. Current understanding of these processes does not enable confident prediction of the impacts. Chapin, Sala & Huber-Sannwald (Scenario 2013) pointed that “little is known about the effects of increasing UV-B on either biodiversity or ecosystem function”. It is necessary to consider as positive as negative impact of UV radiation on living organisms and